Chapter 19: Detective Trials

•National Academy of Science, 1st Ward•

Ambrose

"How's the investigation going, detective?" Nick asked Ambrose as he took a seat in front of him. There was a cup of coffee in his hand but Ambrose didn't bother asking Nick if it was for him. Nick always had two cups of coffee. Selfish jerk.

"Well, no leads so far. Except the dog shelter, Emily went to in the 5th Ward. But you know since the Academy is a boarding school, we can't leave school premises." Ambrose said while checking the notes on his floating screen.

"Luckily I have Valerian and Ana helping me so I think things will progress better" Nick almost choked on his coffee. "You mean THE Valerian Vanguardia?! You got that genius asshole to help you?!" Nick exclaimed in shock s he slammed his coffee mug on the table.

Ambrose looked up from his floating screen and gave Nick a smug expression. "Heh," Ambrose smirked. "I'm just that irresistible" he added.

Nick rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah right. You probably just blackmailed them or something" Nick said while taking a sip from his coffee. Ambrose couldn't tell him that he was 100% right, he did indeed blackmail them into helping him.

Ambrose noticed the black circles under his friend's eyes. Students from regular classes must have it hard. Their classes were extremely competitive and fast-paced. He could tell Nick wasn't getting enough sleep. "How about you? How's your research going? What was it again? Something about chili peppers and rats…"

"Capsicum frutescens as a remedy for osteoarthritis" Nick corrected him. "Capsicum frutescens have anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce pain and tenderness in affected joints. When applied to the skin, capsaicin affects the skin's nerve impulses, blocking the pain without blocking other sensations. It may be used as a pain reliever for rheumatoid arthritis, postherpetic neuralgia, and other conditions. Thus I'm researching how capsicum frutescens can be used as an analgesic…." Nick stopped when he realized Ambrose wasn't listening anymore.

"Don't ask if you don't want to know" Nick deadpanned.

"Well, I didn't ask you to nerd out! You could have just said it was going great or something."

"Is this coffee bitter?" Nick took a sip from the mug. "No, It must be you," he added.

"I'm not being bitter!" Ambrose retorted.

"Oh, right. I forgot you're too dumb to understand this kind of thing."

"Hey! Intelligence is not just defined by your academic performance!" Ambrose said which made Nick speechless. "That's the first sane thing you've said in months," he said.

Nick got up from his chair and leaned over Ambrose's shoulders. He looked at the messy notes Ambrose had typed on his screen.

Ambrose's Suspect List:

- Ken Wang

- Eliot Cane

- Beatrice Ward

- Anastasia Moreau

- Valerian Vincenzo Vanguardia

"Woah, woah, woah. Valerian and this Ana girl is in your suspect list?!" Nick exclaimed.

"Yes, and?"

"Your getting help from prospective criminals?!"

Prospective criminals? Ambrose didn't tell him that one of them—Valerian—had already murdered someone. But no matter what angle Ambrose looked at it from Kalix Dyle's death (although filled with a lot of conspiracies) is vastly different from the other murders in the Sanctuary. So, Valerian probably wasn't the killer. Besides, Kalix was still living and breathing (and attacking) so Valerian couldn't be considered a killer.

"Well, keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Ambrose said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Ambrose, this is dangerous. What if you get yourself killed? This is a murderer you're after, what if he kills you." Nick's voice was heavy with concern. Ambrose could understand that he was worried but solving this case was something he HAD to do. Even if it kills him.

"Well, It's good I have the two most dangerous people I know helping me then."

Nick just shook his head in resignation. "I have no idea how that head of yours works."

***

"So, I called you here today because we need to move." Ambrose said crossing his legs.

Ana and Valerian were currently in his room because he called for a "super secret meeting." Valerian leaned at the side of his wall glaring daggers at him while Ana sat cross-legged at the floor on the side of the room farthest away from Valerian. Ok, it was clear that they DID NOT want to be here.

"Hey, did something happen between you two?" Ambrose asked pointing back and forth between the two of them. Usually, when they were in the same room they would be at each other's throats and end up bickering like an old married couple. "No." They both said in unison as they turned away from each other but Ambrose could see the tips of Ana's ears turn red.

"Okay…If you say so." Ambrose opened his floating screen and enlarged it. The blue screen showed a map of the Academy. Ambrose zoomed in on the Academy Laboratory. "Tonight, we're infiltrating the Academy Lab," he said.

This seemed to have caught Valerian's interest because he shifted his gaze toward the map. "Only the Imperial 7 are allowed in. I heard the Security is tough to breech" Valerian said.

"Well, luckily my sister is in the Imperial 7. I have her key card that we can use to enter the main gate. We'll need her biometrics to open her lab rooms but I can hack into the system to help us break into her lab rooms once we've entered the main gate."

"Wait, why are we breaking into the Academy Laboratory?" Ana asked raising her hand.

"Good question. Ok, just a brief background. I'm trying to solve the mysterious murder cases around the sanctuary." It could have been Ambrose's imagination but Valerian flinched slightly at that.

"These cases started appearing 1 year ago and It's mostly centered in the 5th Ward but recently more and more murders have been popping out in the other wards. The victims all die in different ways but all of them seem as if they were attacked by a wild animal—gouged out organs, flesh ripped apart, bite marks, etc.— the killer has the same pattern all the time. A person goes missing then suddenly dead bodies start appearing one after another. I think the same thing is happening here. Emily Stuart goes missing and sooner or later more and more dead bodies will appear."

"You think the killer is in the school?" Ana asked.

"Well, no…yes? Maybe? I'm not sure yet, ok!" Ambrose said ruffling his hair in frustration. "There's no way a student or teacher could kill people from the other Wards since the Academy is a boarding school but maybe the person here is somehow connected to the murderer. Maybe that person is helping the murderer enter the 1st Ward by attacking the Academy," he added.

"If we find out Emily, we'll find a clue," Valerian said sounding oddly excited.

"Yes. And the only lead we have is her last known location. The dog shelter on the 5th Ward. Since we can't go there, our next best bet is the person Emily worked for and the person who organized the volunteer work in the 5th Ward. Amelia Riese. My sister. Her current research has something to do with dogs so I'm guessing that's why she sent Emily and Beatrice to the dog shelter"

"Ok, then. Let's go!" Ambrose yelled pumping his fist in the air. "Follow me," he added.

"Yeah, I don't trust your navigation skills," Ana said standing up.

"Agreed." Valerian agreed.